Public will get say on Chico school bond projects

CHICO -- In a series of separate items on Wednesday, the Chico Unified School District board of trustees took steps to issue bonds connected to Measure E, begin the public input on what to do with those dollars, and began to think about new solar power projects that could happen without bond funds.

The first item on the list was the effort to move forward on community involvement in determining what things need to be done at which schools.

The first public steps will be meetings scheduled in the district's three junior high schools. All of the meetings will run from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and each will focus on the needs of specific elementary schools.

April 30, at Marsh Junior High School, 2253 Humboldt Road in the school library, focusing on Marsh and Little Chico Creek, Loma Vista, Parkview and Sierra View schools.

May 1, Bidwell Junior High School, 2376 North Ave., in the multi-purpose room focusing on Bidwell and McManus, Marigold, Neal Dow and Shasta schools.

Mike Weissenborn, district director of construction and facilities, said while the meetings do target specific schools, any member of the community who wants to provide input on needs in any school is welcome.

He also explained to the board, which met in the Chico City Council Chambers, that teams of technical experts will also be going through the school to identify every need or concern. There will be further public meetings and board hearings to identify all the district's needs and then to prioritize a list of what needs to be done where.

All of this work is connected directly to the voter-approved Measure E, which authorizes the district to issue bonds for up to $78 million for school repairs, replacements, upgrades and improvements in technology.

Related to that, the board approved a resolution authorizing the $15 million bond issue from Measure E. The trustees approved the resolution, which specifies the money will be generated from general obligation bonds, unanimously.

In a separate effort, the trustees heard an information item on the possibility of putting additional solar power arrays, similar to the ones at Chico High School and Pleasant Valley High School, on 15 other sites around the district. In a separate related item, the board approved hiring a consultant to help prepare a document to ask prospective contractors to submit proposals on possible solar projects.

Weissenborn said he believes additional solar projects will be feasible at some district sites and that they can probably be built with "other people's money" that won't dip into the Measure E funding pool.